Wednesday, October 7, 2009

New Blog/News Format!

Greetings everyone! I've decided to use Blogspot for my monthly updates as it is easier to read and allows me the freedom to post pertinent items more frequently. For my first official blog post, I've copied and pasted the year-to-date monthly updates below. I look forward to being able to post more frequently with this service!

10/1/09 - October is here! This is my favorite month of the year. My wife Bess and I will be celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary. It seems hard to believe that 14 years have flown by so fast. My student roster is busting at the seams! I'm very thankful to have such awesome students. They teach me so much without even realizing it! Performances this month are plentiful! Party Jones will be playing three private Halloween parties (actually Party Jones is playing 4 but I'm subbing out on the 4th one as it is on Halloween night and I will be trick or treating with my son Michael and watching DVD's with Bess later on!) Party Jones has a big corporate gig on October 16th in Kansas City, MO! We will be living the rock star life on that weekend. We fly out of LAX at 6:15am on the 16th. We play the gig the night of the 16th and spend the night in KC. We fly back to SoCal on the 17th in time for a private party in Huntington Beach that night! Good times! I'd also like to welcome Bill Horton into the Party Jones family. He is our new bass player. He played his first gig with us at Taco Surf in Sunset Beach on 09/26/09 to a packed house! Band friend Jay Milner threw a surprise party for his awesome wife Terri and the turnout was fantastic!

09/01/09 - I survived my trip back east despite debilitating heat and humidity! Fall is around the corner and I'd be lying if I didn't say I was looking forward to cooler weather! My son Michael is going to be starting kindergarten this Fall. It's hard to believe how time flies! Fall is the busiest time of year for me as all my students who took time off for the summer return and many new students enroll for lessons. It's my favorite time of year as well (even though we don't get that much of a season change here in sunny SoCal!) My student load is growing and I'm thinking about opening up another day of teaching. Having sold my shares of the large studio I co-owned in 2006, this is the third time I've had to rebuild my student roster in the last 9 years! I'm very excited about the growth. Party Jones has cut back on several club gigs which I'm grateful for. It allows me more time for my family. The focus has shifted to more corporate and casual work which has always been my preference! This may also allow me the opportunity to play with other groups I normally wouldn't have been able to play with due to scheduling conflicts. I'm very proud to share that one of my former students is now a sophomore at the prestigious Berklee School of Music. He was accepted into the Orange County High School of the Arts and graduated. He's now entering his second year at Berklee! Here is a link to his website: Graham Spillman. Here's a link to a video of him playing with the Ambassador Jazz Orchestra last year at OCHSA!

08/01/09 - The end of summer is rapidly approaching! I hope everyone had a great one! Here's the news update for August: Bess, Michael and I will be taking a big trip to Florida to visit one of her sisters and aunts then we're going to Upstate New York to visit her father. We will be spending one week in Florida and two weeks in Upstate New York. I will be teaching the first week in August, then won't resume until Monday, August 31st. Thanks to Kenny and Danny for subbing for me in the Party Jones drum chair while I'm gone. Speaking of Party Jones, it looks like our goal of playing mostly corporate/casual gigs is being realized. We've cut our club dates down to Taco Surf in Surfside and Mahe's in Seal Beach. These two clubs pay great, have great crowds and spoil us rotten. We will continue playing our regular Metro Pointe gig as well. This is particularly exciting for me as it allows me to spend more time with my family without affecting the pocketbook! My contact at Vic Firth drumsticks, Olin Johannsen, is leaving the company to pursue his Master's degree. Although I'm sad to see him go, I'm happy to see him follow his dreams. My new contact is Michael Moore who has some pretty serious credentials under his belt!

07/01/09 - Happy 4th of July everyone! I celebrated Independence Day by playing the huge Delmer 4th of July party in Huntington Beach for the 6th year in a row. In other news, I will be playing at my good friend Randy Walker's wedding in beautiful San Diego on July 8th. It is such a privliledge to call Randy my friend. He is the sweetest most humble dude I know. He's a fantastic drummer and audio engineer as well. I will also be playing a concert in the park in La Mirada on July 9th. The weekend of July 10-12 I will be taking a short family trip to Las Vegas to relax for a few days. On July 21st I will be traveling to Santa Barbara to play the DaVita corporation's big yearly corporate party. The rest of July has me playing a few club dates here and there. Stay cool everone

06/01/09 - Summer is here! I want to thank all my students for their hard work and dedication over the school year. I know it is challenging trying to balance drum lessons with school and other extra-curricular activities. Party Jones has an extremely busy schedule this summer. We are booked solid every weekend! I will be taking some time off in July and August to travel with my family, but other than that, I will be performing quite frequently. I'm happy to say that we were asked to play at the Taste of Rancho Santa Margarita on June 6th. We will also have our first gig at Peppino's in Foothill Ranch immediately after performing at the TORSM. We are also hoping to get into regular rotation at the Doubletree Hotel's lounge in Dana Point/Doheny.

05/01/09 - It is with a heavy heart that I report that my good friend and founder of the Professional Drum Teacher's Guild, Martin Fullard had to move to England. I will still be in contact with Marty and he'll still be fulfilling all of his duties as founder of the Guild from across the pond, but I will miss him dearly as he's been a source of encouragement and strength for me and a beacon of light in our profession. He has done much for many local drum teachers all around the world. England is lucky to have the likes of him! Summer time is quickly approaching and with it comes news of Party Jones playing locally (finally!) Thanks to my good friend (and student's dad) Paul Todd, Party Jones will be playing regularly at Peppino's in Foothill Ranch. This means all my students and their families as well as local friends can come check us out without having to drive to Sunset Beach, Huntington Beach or Long Beach! I'm very excited about having a gig close to my neighborhood!

04/01/09 - Spring is here and with it comes news! The Professional Drum Teachers Guild has a new website. Guild founder and webmaster Martin Fullard was forced to expand the site because of the growth in membership. I am now a member of Hudson Music's Teacher Integration Program. As a teacher who uses modern technology and various media tools, this is a wonderful opportunity. Thanks to Mike Sorrentino for allowing me to be a part of the TIP program! This month also has Party Jones playing the Long Beach Grand Prix again in addition to a wedding and numerous club dates.

03/01/09 - Happy March everyone! This year is really moving by quickly. I have quite a bit of good news to report. First off, the Professional Drum Teachers Guild celebrated it's one year anniversary last month. It is hard to believe that it has been around for a year now. My good friend Marty Fullard has been working hard and the Guild has grown exponentially. In fact, Marty had to create a whole new website in order to accommodate our growing membership. Be sure to check out the new site! My teaching roster has also grown significantly. I met my 2008 goal (and then some) and am practically at my 2009 goal and the year has just begun! Thanks to all my wonderful students for their hard work and diligence. I'm so thankful to be in the position to teach them and I've met some truly wonderful families. The online lessons are going well. I'm currently teaching a former student in Japan and I've picked up another student in Oregon. I've added quite a few new charts to the charts page, so be sure to check back regularly for updates. Anytime I get a student request for a song and I do a transcription, I make them available to anyone to download for free! Party Jones is performing every weekend. We've never sounded better and are starting to pick up more and more gigs. Be sure to check out my calendar for gig info!

02/01/09 - February is here and I'm happy to report that 2009 is starting off GREAT! NAMM was really fun. I got to meet some of my contacts at the companies I work with like Neil Larrivee at Vic Firth and Bruce Jacoby at Remo. I also got to hang with my good friend Randy Walker, his fiancee' Carol and Todd Sucherman of Styx fame! I also got to see and meet some of my online friends from the House of Drumming board. Needless to say it was a really memorable time. In 2008 I exceeded my student load goal and am setting new goals for 2009. I already have some online students even though I just started providing this service last month. One is a former student who now lives in Japan! Technology is really something these days! Party Jones is sounding better than ever. We are starting to fill up our performance calendar despite the bleak economy. If January is any indication how the rest of '09 plays out, I'm going to be very happy!

01/01/09 - Happy New Year everyone! After a rough end to 2008 with the passing of my mother-in-law and my nose surgery, I'm very much looking forward to starting fresh in '09. I plan on attending the NAMM show later this month (thanks to Neil Larrivee of Vic Firth for the pass!) I'm looking forward to hooking up with some friends I haven't seen in a while and meeting some new ones I made over the Internet. I also hope to get a picture with Steve Gadd, my favorite drummer of all time! Joey Oddo, bassist for Party Jones for the last 2 1/2 years decided to pursue other paths this year. We were very lucky to have found a replacement for him in the form of Donny Goldberg. Donny grew up in a musical family reminiscent of the Cowsills and toured the country performing Beach Boys songs! The Professional Drum Teacher Guild is continuing to grow and flourish under the direction of my good friend Martin Fullard. On the teaching front, I've now started to offer online lessons using AVChat technology. Students can study with me in real-time from the comfort of their own home! Click HERE to learn more about it! Thanks to all my students for a great year and here's to a productive, happy 2009!